FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS

Lots of teens, and even some pre-teens, wear contact lenses. The average age for someone to begin wearing contacts is 13; some younger children may be mature enough to wear and care for contact lenses. Successful lens wear depends more on responsibility and attitude than age. Seeing an eye doctor will help you figure out whether contact lenses are right for you.

Not likely. With proper fitting, contacts should stay in place almost all the time. Even on that rare occasion when a contact lens moves out of place, it usually stays on your eye until you can move it back.

Contact lens–related problems can occur, but they’re unlikely. Most common eye-health issues are related to poorly fitted lenses or not following an eye doctor’s recommended lens-wear schedule. If you do experience any unusual eye discomfort or changes in your vision, remove your lenses and call your eye doctor immediately.

A contact lens is a medical device, which is why you need a prescription. Only an eye doctor can properly measure your need for vision correction as well as determine which size and type of contact lens is best for you. Plus, changes that can occur to your vision and eye health over time can only be detected with specialized equipment and procedures.

Yes. A prescription for contact lenses requires different information than a prescription for eyeglasses. Along with the level of vision correction, a contact lens prescription will include the base curve which is used to fit the curvature of the lens to your eye and the diameter which is used to fit the width of the lens to your eye.

Start by scheduling a contact lens appointment with an eye doctor. Your first contact lens fitting takes a little longer than a regular eye exam—about 90 minutes. Be sure to let the office know you want a contact lens fitting, not just a regular eye exam.

The base curve is the back curvature of a contact lens. It’s used to determine the curvature of the lens to your eye to provide the best fit and comfort. The lower the number, the steeper the curve of the lens.

Advances in technology make contact lenses convenient and easy to use. And caring for them is easy with multipurpose lens solutions that make cleaning, disinfecting and storing your contacts simple and convenient. For the most convenient way to wear contacts, consider ACUVUE® MOIST® Contact Lenses or ACUVUE OASYS® 2-Week for Presbyopia (Multifocal), 1-DAY ACUVUE® TruEye®, ACUVUE OASYS® 1-DAY with HydraLuxe™ TECHNOLOGY. Just wear them for the day, then throw them away.

If your need for vision correction isn’t that great, contact lenses are an easy, always-there alternative to wear when you need them for certain activities, such as sports. And, unlike glasses, contacts won’t smudge, steam up, fall off or break, and you won’t lose any peripheral vision.

Bring it on. Contacts offer crisp, clear vision and you won’t have to worry about them fogging up, falling off or breaking during a game like glasses can. And you won’t experience a loss of peripheral vision like you can with glasses.

Contact lens–related health problems can occur, but they’re rare. Infections are most commonly related to poor cleaning routines or other lens-care-related issues. If you follow your eye doctor’s directions for proper wear and care, you should be fine.

Daily Disposable contact lenses are used for one day, then thrown away. They typically don’t involve the use of lens solutions.

Frequent Replacement lenses are reused for two weeks to one month (depending on the lens and your eye doctor’s recommendation) and require cleaning and disinfection every day. Extended Wear means you can sleep in the lenses for up to six nights/seven days (based on your eye doctor’s recommendation). Some lenses are approved for even longer wearing periods, but we believe a shorter wear cycle, and more frequent use of fresh lenses, is more comfortable.

In general, bifocal contact lenses are designed with only two zones of vision (near and far) in the same lens. Multifocal contact lenses are designed with more than two zones of vision (near, far and in-between) in each lens.

Maybe. Only your eye doctor can tell for certain. LASIK surgery permanently alters the shape of your eye, but doesn’t prevent the development of presbyopia, so you’ll still need vision correction at some point. If your eye doctor feels that contacts are still an option, we believe that ACUVUE® is an excellent choice.

Contacts can be surprisingly affordable. And with vision insurance, out-of-pocket costs may be even less. Plus, replacing a lost contact lens can be cheap and easy compared to replacing lost or damaged glasses.